Thursday, October 18, 2012

What if I'm still depressed?

   So, maybe you are one of the precious few who read my last post, and maybe it helped you see that God still loves you, but chances are it did not erase your depression. Reminders of God's love help, but they are not always a cure. Does this say something bad about us? God's unfathomable love, His "unspeakable gift" is not enough to get me out of the dumps? That makes me seem ungrateful, surely none of God's people ever acted like this... right?

   Allow me to introduce Timothy. Timothy had a wonderful nurturing relationship with the apostle Paul (arguably the greatest missionary to ever live). Paul made sure to instill in Timothy, from the beginning, the greatness of God's love and sacrifice. Paul spent time with Timothy and they grew as close as father and son... lucky! We would probably all like that chance. But, do not be too quick to wish yourself into Timothy's sandals. With great privilege comes great responsibility. And Paul left Timothy at Ephesus, a very troubled church, because he had confidence in him. It makes sense to send your most trusted man into the most pressing situation, but that is not pleasant for the most trusted man.

   Take a few minutes to read 1 Timothy chapter 4 through 2 Timothy chapter 4 with the thought in mind that he is a man like you, with feelings and emotions, and ask yourself; does it sound like Paul is writing to someone who is depressed? Don't pass over this and read on, actually stop and read it, its only about 5 pages, you can handle this.
   I never looked at these books until I was stressed beyond anything I had ever been through with my local ministry work (much of it was self-inflicted, but that is besides the point). I realized stress had caused me to loose focus on my personal spiritual life and I picked up my Bible and started reading 1 & 2 Timothy because I was a young preacher who needed guidance. I cried so hard while reading these two books. It was like Paul was speaking to me. I loved him for his care and concern, I felt so sorry for Timothy and the pain I never knew he was going through, plus, to be honest, I felt sorry for myself. But this changed how I looked at Timothy. Listen to Paul's words:

"Do not neglect the spiritual gift that is in you, which was given to you when the prophets spoke and the elders laid their hands on you." (1 Tim. 4:14). This young man had the elders hands laid on him and received a spiritual gift from God. It was prophesied that Timothy would do great things for the Lord. Paul is referring back to the prophecy he mentioned back in 1Timothy 1:18. Is that not amazing? Who would ever hesitate to use such a gift? In my limited thought and experience, I would answer that a man under incredible stress and weighed down by depression would. Has not God given me the amazing gift of His grace, love, peace, mercy, forgiveness, even His very Son and His Holy Spirit? But at times the stresses of the world seem so great and I am so overwhelmed that I forget to use the gifts that God has given me. why is someone with as hopeful a future as a child of God living as if he had no hope? The way I see it, you will be overwhelmed by something, the question is by what. You can be overwhelmed by Satan, this happened to Judas. Judas opened the door to Satan and before long he was overwhelmed by Satan's influence. We can be overwhelmed by the world, Paul writes to Timothy about how this happened to many who had work alongside him. You can be overwhelmed by Christ. Did you know that this is what baptism means? It means to be overwhelmed. Paul tells us in Galatians 3:27 that if we are baptized into Christ that we put on Christ or we are wrapped in Christ. You can be overwhelmed by Him. You can be overwhelmed by the Spirit who God has given us as guide, and Paul encouraged Timothy to rely on Him (2 Tim. 1:14). Who will overwhelm you?

"Do not drink water only, but take a little wine to help your digestion, since you are sick so often." (1 Tim. 5:23). Stress is not only dangerous for the toll that it take on your mind and emotions, but also for its effects on the body. Unfortunately, this is how stress effects me, it attacks my stomach. It is no fun. But I think this is another passage that shows the condition Timothy was in. Notice Paul's care even for this.

"Run your best in the race of faith, and win eternal life for yourself; for it was to this life that God called you when you firmly professed your faith before many witnesses." (1 Tim. 6:25). He reminds Timothy of the reward God has for him. God called him to eternal life, as He called us, and that is a pretty good motivator. It's not all for nothing, it's all for everything!

"I remember your tears, and I want to see you very much, so that I may be filled with joy. I remember the sincere faith you have, the kind of faith that your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice also had. I am sure that you have it also. For this reason I remind you to keep alive the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you." (2 Tim 1:4-6). Paul himself laid his hands on Timothy and imparted a gift to him! Again Paul reminds Timothy to keep that gift alive. He reminds Timothy of how impressed he has always been with him and of the confidence he still has in him. May we all be viewed in light of our accomplishments and our potential and not our moments of fear and doubt. Paul follows this up by reminding him that God will give him strength and see him through it all, and uses his own life as an example. How many people could ever conceive of enduring all that Paul went through?
" ... I have worked much harder, I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often.  Five times I was given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks, and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water. In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from my own people and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends. There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing. And not to mention other things, every day I am under the pressure of my concern for all the churches. When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress. If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus---blessed be his name forever!---knows that I am not lying. When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas placed guards at the city gates to arrest me. But I was let down in a basket through an opening in the wall and escaped from him." (2Cor. 11:23-33).
And that's just to name a few of the things Paul suffered. Be he says, God saw me through it all and is still fighting for me, so hang in there and remember God will do the same for you. That is his reminder to Timothy and to us. God will see you through! Even if I neglect His gifts for a time or seem ungrateful, He waits to pick me up and carry me through.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Dealing With Depression: How Does God View Human Frailty?

Depression is no respecter of persons. Age, race, gender, and social background do not matter to this crippling oppressor of mankind. And we often see depression depicted like this:
   Yet another picture of an adolescent hunched over with internal turmoil that crushes them to the ground and makes them rock themselves in a corner. In reality, it is rarely like this. A depressed person, no matter what their age, is probably going to look like your average coping individual, at least in public. I like to think that I do. Most of the people around you are dealing with depression, or not dealing with it, but still suffering from it; it is just a matter of degree. This does not make your case, or mine, any less significant, it just means we are not alone.
    If it is a problem that so many people struggle with, there must be many Christians struggling with depression, right? And if there are many Christians who are depressed, surely someone thought to turn to God's words and share some wisdom and insight from the Scripture, right? If they have, I have yet to find it. Oh, there are plenty of Christian bloggers who blog about what you should do when you are depressed, and lots of ministers who are apparently untouched by this plague on the rest of the race, but I can sum the first 20 or so that your search engine will show you. They basically say, suck it up and move on, because Paul told Timothy "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV).
    Oh... Just get over it and move on... why didn't I think of that. Are you kidding me?! Have any of these people ever suffered from depression? I think they are confusing depression with disappointment. So, disgusted by the lack of help that I found there, I decided that maybe it is time for someone who fights depression (with victories and defeats) to write about it, and try to uncover what God thinks about my struggle.
     Personally, I believe that one of the worst things about depression is the feeling that you are not good enough. If you fall into a state of depression, chances are you really cannot stand your inability to just "get over it." Your inability to move on make you feel worthless because it seems like the rest of the world is able to cope. Maybe, like me, you feel that you are far too fragile to live in the world you live in. If we feel like we are not meeting the expectations of the general public, we feel this more strongly with those who know us more intimately, and we feel this exponentially more with God. If I cannot be the person I want to be, how can I ever be who God wants me to be? I mean, how does a supreme being look at my profound weakness?
     You might be surprised by the answer. Allow me to tell you a story that inspires me.
There is an almighty, perfect, and holy God. And He desires to have a relationship with humans. As strange as that may seem, from the beginning of time (which He set into motion) it has been His goal to have an unparalleled relationship with man. Once Adam and Eve ruined the chance of us living in the garden of Eden forever with God, God put into effect the plan He made before the world began, to redeem man to Himself. He would justify man so man could be with Him for eternity, after death.
     There were, however, two men who God could not wait to have at His side, apparently. These men never experienced death, but were called home by God. The first man, we know very little of. His name was Enoch and He walked with God, then one day "He was not, for God took Him." (Genesis 5:24). All we know is that he walked with God. It seems like he had a wonderful relationship with God and one day God just took Enoch to be with Him. Makes sense. But what about the second man? Enoch was just the type of person you would expect God to take home, but it is not exactly the same with Elijah.
      When we think of Elijah, we tend to think of this guy:
 This guy is a prophet of God, he calls on God's name and makes miracles happen. This guy faces hundreds of God-hating false prophets all by himself. Just him, his faith that God is with him, and a sword. This is the guy who uses that same sword to kill the unfaithful prophets. This guy heals widows' sons, depends on God and goes were God points him, make droughts and rain through prayer, and shouts and shakes his finger in the face of unrighteous maniac kings because God told him to. So far, he seems to meet the credentials, right? But he is also this guy:
  The guy who runs and hides in the wilderness when threatened by a evil queen. The guy who begs God to kill him already, who lays under a tree and later in a cave and cries, just waiting to die. ... huh... if i didn't know any better I would say this guy struggled with depression. So, of course God shouts at him from out of heaven, slaps some sense into him, says be warmed, filled and happy because I gave you a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Right? NO!!!
    This is the first of several examples that I will be posting over the next few weeks of how God is kind, patient and understanding towards His servants who are suffering from depression.
     So what does God do? 1 Kings 19 - He sends an angle to get Elijah to eat and drink. Depression will lead us to take poor or no care of ourselves. We may lay around and not bathe, get dressed, eat, or even drink, because we are so crushed, and often when we realize our pitiful shape we become so ashamed of our behavior that we believe we don't really even deserve any better than how we are treating ourselves. Or maybe we go the other rout and eat ourselves into a pitiful state. Either way, we are not taking proper care of ourselves. So God sends Elijah an angle to care for him. And what does Elijah do? He eats and drinks, lays back down and returns to his agony. There is rarely ever an easy fix to depression.
     The angel comes and does the same thing again telling Elijah he needs his strength for a journey. Sometimes a change in scenery, even just getting out of the house can provide some relief. The problem is getting motivated to look presentable and then go out. It sounds so easy to someone who has never been there, but it can be hard and frightening. It often takes a push like Elijah got. So he traveled 40 days and nights to the same mountain where God spoke to Moses. 40 days, a trip, and a visit to an amazing landmark should help right? It doesn't seem like it. Elijah is just living in a cave, still needing God's help to get him out of this sad situation he is in. It does not mean that Elijah did not have faith or that God was not there, he just had not made it out of this emotional torment that he was in.
     So God shows up and shouts, Okay Elijah, I tried to be patient with you, but this is ridiculous, just get over it and move on. Right? No again. God shows Elijah His power through mighty works, but when He speaks to his fragile, suffering servant, He speaks to Him in a kind whisper.
     He does not say, there is no way a depressed person who struggles like this with their faith and motivation can be pleasing to me. He just asks Elijah what is wrong. Why don't more people do this rather than shoving advice and cliches down our throats? Elijah says, I gave you all I have and it's not enough, and now I am all alone. God does not tell him that he is right, that he is not enough, instead He seems to agree with him. This is amazing! But God says, Okay, get up and we will appoint Elisha to take your place. This amazes me. This is how caring God is! How often do we fail to cast our cares on Him and simply say, Lord, this is enough. Help! I cannot do it anymore. 1 Cor. 10:13 tells us that God won't put on us more than we can bear, but this does not mean that we don't heap too much on ourselves by not putting things in His hands. This passage tells us He will provide a way of escape, just as He does here for Elijah, but we have to take it.
     He next tells Elijah, you are not alone. How nice it is to know that you are not a freak, not some failure who is worse off than those around you. He tells Elijah that there are literally thousands of others who are serving God under this stress and strain too. what is really funny is that if you do some research, you will find that a servant of the king who feared God had actually hid the other men in caves. Elijah had no idea how similar their plights really were.
     Through appointing Elisha, Elijah finds companionship and comfort; but God did not forget how Elijah had asked for the Lord to end it all, or how he said it was all too much. The Lord came for Him and takes him home in an epic whirlwind, complete with a chariot of fire. The only person we know of, other than Enoch, that God ever took home to be with him was not a man like Joshua who seemed confident and strong throughout his whole life, but a man who James, the brother of Christ, says is "just like us." (James 5:17 ISV).

When I feel alone, crippled by depression, when I disappoint even myself, how does God see me? God sees my as a beloved child in pain, in need of help, but not unworthy, not displeasing. My God sees potential for greatness and reward even in a man just like me.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Hope for the Hurting

There are so many things in this world today that cause us pain, and pain can be crippling. Drugs, alcohol, sex, self-inflicted injuries, suicidal thoughts or tendencies, pornography, and abuse are just a few of the things that either cause the pain or are used as an escape from the real problem. But they only cause you more pain.


     God knows this, and has always known this. Sin is the cause of our pain. Sin brought death and separation from God (Gen. 3). God sent His son to take away sin and restore our relationship with God. But God did not forget about the pain this could leave us with. This is why Jesus said "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentile at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, the burden I give you is light." (Matt. 11:28-30).
      A yoke is a teaching tool. Jesus is not asking you to give up one burden and take on another, no, Jesus is saying give your burden to me, and let me teach you how to carry a burden. Peter said "Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you." (1 Pet. 5:7). David wrote "Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly yo slip and fall." Here is a picture of a yoke:
    The way this teaching tool works is to couple an experienced worker with an inexperienced one. The experienced worker keeps his buddy on track, pulls him back on course if he wavers. Jesus says let Me do this. He even tells us that He is humble so He won't correct us in a prideful or condescending way and He is gentile in how he corrects and instructs. What more can we ask for?
    God also expects us to help each other as we walk through life (1 Thes. 5:11). If you are hurting, grieving, struggling with an addiction, hurting yourself, hurting others, struggling with sex or pornography, first you need God, look into His word, look to His guidance, pray. Let others help. Check out http://www.facebook.com/towriteloveonherarms
Or the website http://www.twloha.com
Talk to a minister, comment on this post and I will talk with you. Get help. God cares and we do too, and through Him there is Hope.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I do not have the time today to explain how encouraging and inspiring CHRISTeens was this weekend. One thing I did want to share with you though, is a passage from Jeremiah and a poem by David Bowden. David Bowden performed at CHRISTeens and I was impressed and moved by his insight.


 Jeremiah 7

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.' "For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. "Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!'--only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim. "As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched." Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.' But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. "So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. And you shall say to them, 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips. "'Cut off your hair and cast it away; raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.' "For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste. 

These are compelling and frightening words, but how compelled are we to change our lives when we read this? do we fool ourselves by stepping back and saying, God did not say this to me, He said it to those foolish Jews so long ago. It is true that God said these things to the people of that day, but how would this message sound if God was speaking to us?
Here is what David Bowden suggested in reply to that very question

Jeremiah 7
Hear the word of the Lord all you citizens of the sitting lineage.
Listen all you Christians of the fitting-in traditions.
For the Lord has spoken.
Open your ears my heathens!

Pay Attention
to the condition
of your religion
that has taken position
over your mission
as my children

Your buildings are rebuilding a nation of accepted sedation
sedimentary demonstrations of comfortable admiration
a civilization of neglected realizations
neglecting to realize that all your worship’s comprising
is the disgusting disguising of your commitment’s demising
I brought you out of sin with the blood on my son’s skin
Again and again you sought him to restore ya
But your likeness is like that of Sodom and Gomorrah 

I have had my fill of your songs
I long for your hearts
I find no thrill in belonging
to the screen art
backlighting your hymns
My ears rise to the brim with promises
But I want your body’s sacrifices
My eyes are blind with churches
all the same, no revolutionary versions
Your Sundays are a burden
You hide behind the curtain
of worship and feel certain
that your prayers, songs, and sermons
will be heard
that maybe I preferred
to be given your words instead of your person
but your blurred worship is persistent
My gates are bombarded with identical prayers
My courts are crowded with stares at a preacher
My temple is littered with millions of teachers
teaching that song leading, table serving, and pulpit speaking
are what I care about
But I want you when wanting me isn’t what everyone else cares about

Oh my Christians!
When did Christ become a figurehead instead of a commission
When did my son become flatbread instead of a mission
When did his blood become imbedded in dead prayers instead of spreading you into submission
When did his cross become something printed on thread instead of imprinted on your vision
Your missing the point if
attending, seating, listening, and repeating
is the joint efforts of your
effortless anointing
I don’t want to disappoint
all those who thought
getting baptized and being churched
would comprise the proper work to prove your worth
but I have searched the earth
and when you’re not hiding in your Sunday shirt
or your Wednesday skirt
you look the same as every unconverted
person who flirts with the comforts of selfishness and inverted shame
It does not matter if you claim my name
because the fact of the matter is that you all look the same
The pagans the Christians
The tainted the sinless
The saved and the sinners
The saints and imprisoned

You are in prison
my children
Your comfort is your bars
Your traditions your cells
Your boredom is your punishment
and your minds are your jails
Don’t you remember?
I freed you with nails
broke the bars, opened the cells
But you just sit in your chains
spend your days in an open grave
I raised you from death but you live the same way

Oh my unfaithful bride!
I have loved you before time began to wind
Behind your creation are lifetimes of preparation
I created you to be mine
From the Egyptians I saved you
I kept you in mind
From your hypocrisy I braved your
commitment’s decline
I traded the life of the divine
for the strife of a slave
I stayed by your side when you punctured mine
Sent me to the grave
I forgave you and your kind
Generation after generation generating the same replays
And today you
deny me still
Your lips lie with what they say
your tongue deceives with great skill
You fill pews to prove what your life fails to
Do something more than sit still
You kill me again
when you refuse to begin
living as I did
when I spent
my life with you

There will be no redemption for you
if you don’t do as I implore you

But don’t doubt that I adore you
Our reunion is overdue
I long to restore you
Create something more for you
Relate to your core
and not just your core values
For you are more valuable to me than doctrines, statements, or creeds
Your faith in me means more than
verses or beliefs
attendance or deeds
whether you fail or succeed
I will speed to your every need
Just please
Stop all the pretending
Stop using me for salvation and
and on it start depending
Stop lending me an hour a week
and hourlessly when your weak
start spending time on your knees
Take my power into the streets
Heal and nourish the least
Bless every enemy
and know
that as long as you are loving them and loving me
There is nothing else I could ever seek

Hear the word of the Lord all you citizens of the sitting lineage.
Listen all you Christians of the fitting-in traditions.
For the Lord has spoken.
Open your ears. For this message hasn’t been spoken for years.
And if you miss it when it’s this clear
And let it just disappear
What will be your hope when you’ve learned God’s word was sincere?

http://davidbowdenpoetry.com/lyrics/return-return/jeremiah-7

Take a little while to meditate on these thoughts, pray about what you learn. Make a change, make a difference today!